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For Romney’s religion to become a significant issue in the general election, the White House probably needs the media to play the Mormon card for them. Not through overt attacks on Mormon theology and practice, which would be out of bounds for most mainstream outlets. Rather, the Obama campaign’s best-case scenario involves a wave of theoretically evenhanded coverage come August and September – newsmagazine cover stories on Mormon theology, 60 Minutes specials on L.D.S. history, pieces about Romney’s own family tree – that end up reminding undecided voters of the things that they find strange and alien about the Republican nominee’s faith.

The media would have good reason to pursue at least some coverage along these lines. If there’s ever a year when the Mormon story is worth telling, it’s a year when a Mormon is on the presidential ballot. And there’s no way to tell the Mormon story comprehensively without bringing up issues (polygamy, race, the Book of Mormon’s alternative pre-history of the Americas) that highlight the distance between the Latter Day Saints and other forms of American Christianity.

But, on the other hand, Bashir is an MSNBC anchor, a Dateline contributor and, previously, a Nightline anchor. It’s not like this is just some pundit on the airwaves.

If you’re going to condemn a political adversary to eternal damnation on account of his lying, is it necessary or even helpful to pull out the Mormon scriptures? Why not simply mention the 10 Commandments themselves since Mormon’s also hold them? Is there a journalistic defense of Bashir’s attack?

I’m a little skeptical that devout believers of other religions are going to be more tolerant of Mormonism “because they understand from firsthand experience the comfort and strength that religious commitment brings.” If that were the case, we would never have had any religious conflicts at all. As for secular Democrats turning against Mormonism because of “the assumption that religious orthodoxy produces irrationality and intolerance,” well, sure. But secular people think most, if not all religions produce irrationality (usually) and intolerance (often). Mormonism is nothing special there. And those of us who don’t believe in any gods long ago made peace with the fact that our only choices for president will be believers of one religion or another.

I’m sure that every once in a while during this campaign, a Democrat is going to say something mean about Mormonism in general or Mitt Romney’s Mormonism in particular (it has already happened). And I wouldn’t be surprised if over time more liberals begin to answer poll questions about Mormon candidates more negatively, and conservatives begin answering more positively. Because now, when respondents are asked, “Would you vote for a Mormon for president?”, the first image that pops into their minds will be Mitt Romney. The answers they give may say as much about their feelings about him as about their feelings about his religion.

A book, authored by a former Mormon and current assistant professor of sociology at the University of Tampa, explains Mormon beliefs and is set to debut next month. The title is “Could I Vote For A Mormon For President? Election Year Guide to Mitt Romney’s Religion.”

The author, Ryan Cragun, is a Tampa, FL resident and 35-years of age. Mr. Cragun was raised a Mormon and grew up in Utah. He was educated at the University of Utah, where he earned a bachelor’s degree. After serving as a missionary from 1996 to 1998, he became the president of the Mormon Social Science Association. The about ten years ago, Mr. Cragan left the Mormon Church after reaching the conclusion that the Book of Mormon was a work of fiction.

Some chapters of the book discuss Mormon views on feminism, abortion, homosexuality and race. Mr. Cragan says that Mormonism is not a cult and it is Christian. He does confirm that they really do wear funny underwear.

A well-regarded Republican strategist at a private gathering recently warned, “And just wait until they play that Mormon card.” By “they,” he meant the Obama campaign and its complicit media cheerleaders.

Lawrence O’Donnell, only days later, gave his viewers a historical tutorial on the Mormon religion, darkly suggesting that we all should be afraid, very afraid. The Democratic governor of Montana, Brian Schweitzer, called Mitt Romney’s grandfather a “polygamist.”

With Mitt Romney emerging as the presumptive Republican presidential candidate and Oregon primary ballots being mailed this week, his fellow members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are encouraging and/or enduring their “Mormon moment” in the sun. A spokesman for the Portland area’s 15 stakes, or congregational groupings, thinks the public interest is, ultimately, “a good thing.”

“For many years, the Mormon religion has been perceived in a narrow way. People think of us as cultish,” says Gene L. Platt, 61, a Newberg attorney who was born in Utah and lived in California and Idaho before settling in Oregon. He thinks Romney and his family are testaments to traditional Mormon values.

Members of the Church of Latter Day Saints and Mormons who love their faith but no longer feel welcome in the church are joining forces and taking a public stance on LGBT inclusion in their congregations and in their states. Recently at Community of Christ in Northwest Washington, 100 Mormons gathered for a full-day conference called Circling the Wagons that included strategies of building more inclusive Mormon communities. I was privileged to be part of a panel discussing how Mormons can get engaged in the campaign to protect marriage equality in Maryland.

I’m always inspired when people of faith refuse to allow the denominational authorities to define their faith for them. Mormons at this conference reflected the best values of the LDS church–a strong sustaining love of God and God’s people that manifested itself in a deep compassion for all our families and all our neighbors. There were many painful stories of rejection and condemnation from the LDS church leaders, but there was an even stronger sense of the urgent need for these Mormon leaders to be the voice of transformation that can empower the church to live into its core values.

Famed pastor Joel Osteen reiterated his position that Mitt Romney is a Christian on Tuesday, saying as long as the likely GOP presidential nominee believes that Jesus is the Son of God then he subscribes to the Christian faith.

“When I hear Mitt Romney say that he believes that Jesus is the Son of God-that he’s the Christ, raised from the dead, that he’s his Savior-that’s good enough for me,” Osteen said in an interview to air on CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.”

Joel Osteen, the popular megachurch pastor from Houston, appeared Tuesday afternoon on CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer” and said that he considers both presumed GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, a Mormon, and President Obama to be Christians.

Osteen, when asked about Romney’s faith, said the former Massachusetts governor is indeed a Christian – which is a similar statement to the one he made in January.

The big headline seems to be Osteen’s statement to CNN that he considers Mitt Romney, who is Mormon, a “brother in Christ.” Godbeat pros Eric Marrapodi and Dan Gilgoff feature a handful of Osteen nuggets in an informative and entertaining post on CNN’s Belief Blog.

Mitt Romney is a Christian: Joel Osteen demonstrates the Christianity of love and acceptance

April 25, 2012

God Discussion

As the bickering between Christians goes on about whether Mitt Romney is a Christian because he is Mormon, the final word has come down from megachurch pastor Joel Osteen: Romney is definitely a Christian. So is Obama.

When Richard Dutcher wrote the screenplay for his dark drama “Falling” in 1999, he hadn’t started shooting his landmark Mormon missionary film “God’s Army,” and he was a devoted member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

When Dutcher finally filmed the movie in 2007 — around the same time he was filming “States of Grace,” the quasi-sequel to “God’s Army” — he wasn’t a Mormon anymore.

Norm Chow Blocking Mormon Player From BYU Transfer, According To Report

April 25, 2012

SB Nation

Hawai’i Warriors coach Norm Chow will allow defensive back Michael Wadsworth to transfer to any school except the BYU Cougars, the Salt Lake Tribune’s Jay Drew reports. This is especially noteworthy since Wadsworth, originally from Utah, is a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints, the organization by which Brigham Young is owned and operated.

Wadsworth doesn’t even have a scholarship offer to transfer to BYU at the moment.

A group of angry residents from Queens took a bus to Downtown Manhattan today to protest a Mormon Church moving to their neighborhood.

“They want to build a structure that’s twice the size than they allow,” said Tyler Cassell, of Community Board 7.

The church, that is currently located on Sanford Avenue near Parsons Avenue in Flushing, has submitted an application to move to 33rd avenue, a street that is zoned for single family housing. The zoning changed in 2009. But the church, according to civic leaders, bought three parcels of land and submitted plans to build to the city.

Mia Love may be running for the House of Representatives on the Republican ticket, but she is not your typical candidate. In fact, Love is breaking the Republican stereotype of an older, white gentleman in several ways.

To begin with, Love is African-American, a strong woman, and Mormon. She has spent nearly eight years in the political spotlight as the mayor of Saratoga Springs in Utah. Now she hopes to secure a seat in the House of Representatives in the next election.

Additionally, there were 26 freshman who entered the U.S. House in 2011 with no previous political experience. Mia Love was a member of the Saratoga Springs City Council before being elected Mayor. If elected to Congress she would be the only Mormon female, too.

Bill Keller, the world’s leading Internet Evangelist and the founder of LivePrayer.com, with over 2.4 million subscribers worldwide reading the daily devotional he has written every morning for 13 years on the issues of the day from a Biblical worldview, states that a vote for Mormon cult member Mitt Romney will insure at least 1 million souls will end up in hell!!!

Brigham Young, leader of the Mormon Church in Utah — now a State of the US — must be turning in his grave to find infertile Americans and Europeans, among others, flocking to India to seek solace from Indian women.

In The Twenty-seventh Wife by Irving Wallace, he has gone on record to say that the justification for Mormonism, allowing a male to take 27 wives simultaneously, in an act of polygamy or plural marriage, was pure economics — simultaneous conception of so many women at the same time that adds immensely to population to work on farms and other places. He then went on to say why he, therefore, did not favour its reverse, polyandry.

NOTE: This is posted for those who are interested in keeping abreast what is being said around the world about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members. MormonVoices cannot and does not guarantee the validity or truthfulness of any information reported. The responsibility for the interpretation and use of this information lies with the reader. As all information comes from other news sources and has not been independently verified, MormonVoices cannot guarantee or be responsible for the security of links in the clipping service. MormonVoices will attempt as much as possible to exclude news articles containing strongly offensive language or which lead to offensive images, but cannot guarantee that some will not slip through.

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